[PyrNet-L] losing it, out of control, falling apart, going psycho

[SDOBSCHA@lnmta.bentley.edu]

these are just some of the words i use to describe "episodes" that my dog
seamus has from time to time.  i wanted to describe it to the list and ask
whether or not i'm a) diagnosing the behavior properly and b) if i'm doing
the right thing to curb it and eventually fix it.

ok, for those of you who are new, seamus is my 2.5 year old male neutered
rescue pyr.  i have had him for nine months.  abridged, yet still ugly,
history:  puppy mill puppy taken away at 4 weeks, pet
store puppy for 8 weeks, adopted by family in colorado, family divorced,
wife fled with three kids and dog across country, when in new home found
unable to take care of dog, rescue home for 2 days, placed in home with
dominant female pyr, placed in another home for 48 hours, placed in my
home, here we are 9 months later.  many acts of fear-based aggression
later, i actually have a relatively normal albeit dog-aggressive and
touch-craving pyr.

here's the problem, every once in a while, seamus has what we call an
episode.  from what we can tell these episodes result from overstimulation.
for example, this past weekend we took him swimming in a lake and once he
was done swimming he started pyr hopping and getting really excited.  then
he "goes psycho" as we call it.  this behavior is lunging at me with his
mouth open, biting my arms, my legs, jumping up on me, and otherwise going
completely crazy.  he actually looks crazed as his eyes get very wide and
nothing i can do will stop him.  the reason i think it stems from
overstimulation is that it has happened in the following contexts:  in
obedience school, whenever we take him somewhere new in which we are
engaging in new or exciting activities, or whenever guests are at the
house.

the behavior seems to start out as play and then turns very aggressive.  no
commands work at this moment and the only thing i have been doing is to pin
him down on the ground with my knee on his shoulder and give a very firm
no.  then i release the pressure to see if he is still in psycho mode and
if he is i pin him again and say no biting or jumping or whatever.  after a
few minutes of this release, test, pin behavior he finally calms down and
will stay in a downstay for as long as i ask.  he seems docile afterward
and unphased by what just happened.  me on the other hand am usually at the
least bruised arms and sometimes legs from being scratched and emotionally
drained.

we are working with a trainer on the dog aggression and that seems to be
waning somewhat but these episodes are scary.

am i handling the situation correctly?  is there anything i should do
differently?  should i just avoid the activities that he seems to love but
then can't seem to handle?  i've worked too hard with this dog to give up
now so i would gladly accept any and all suggestions!

susan